Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) is a military controlled area, where all the news are filtered by the military and the Bangladeshi government.CHT, where blood has shed for decades and hopes were burnt to ashes by the brutes, constitutes of people who want their voice to be heard. We are here to ensure that the voice of these unheard victims in CHT echo around the world despite the Bangladeshi government trying to suppress them in the biased state run media.
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Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Low-level
armed conflict in the CHT in the 1973-97 period displaced tens of
thousands of indigenous persons internally. During the conflict the
government relocated landless Bengalis from the plains with the unstated
objective of changing the demographic balance in the CHT toward a
Bengali majority.

The IDPs in the CHT had limited physical
security. Indigenous community leaders maintained that settlers’
violations of indigenous persons’ rights, sometimes with the involvement
of security forces, were widespread.

The IDPs in the CHT also
lacked sufficient access to courts and legal aid. The CHT Commission,
composed of experts from inside and outside the country who sought to
promote respect for rights in the CHT, found that a lack of information
and lawyers to assist indigenous persons hindered IDP access to justice.
The CHT Commission reported that settlers expropriated indigenous land
using false titles, intimidation, force, fraud, and manipulation of
government eminent-domain claims (see section 6).

The number
of IDPs in the CHT remained disputed. In 2000 a government task force
estimated the number to be 500,000 but included nonindigenous persons in
its estimate. An Amnesty International report published in June
estimated 90,000 indigenous IDPs. The prime minister pledged to resolve
outstanding land disputes in the CHT to facilitate the return of the
IDPs and to close the remaining military camps. No land disputes were
resolved during the year.

Indigenous People

The indigenous community experienced widespread discrimination and
abuses, despite government quotas for indigenous participation from CHT
residents in the civil service and higher education as called for in the
1997 Peace Accord.

Indigenous persons from the CHT were
unable to participate effectively in decisions affecting their lands due
to disagreements regarding the structure and policies of the land
commission. Strict security measures prevented some indigenous
individuals and activists from combating discrimination.

Indigenous persons also suffered from societal violence. According to
Odhikar, clashes between ethnic Bengali settlers and members of the
indigenous community, as well as other forms of violence, led to 22
deaths, 18 injuries, and six rapes of indigenous people.

On
April 4, a truck driver allegedly raped a 12-year-old indigenous Tripura
domestic worker in Keranihat Village, Chittagong District. The Tripura
Welfare Association of Bandarban gave the girl shelter for her safety
and began preparing a written statement against her attacker to file
with the local police.

Extensive societal violence against indigenous individuals occurred on August 3
in six villages in the Taindong area of Matiranga, Kagrachari, after
rumors spread that indigenous persons had kidnapped a Bengali
motorcyclist. Retaliatory attacks against members of these communities
caused more than 2,000 indigenous families to flee across the border to
Tripura, India, and resulted in 12 injuries, 34 burned houses, two
damaged Buddhist temples, and 259 looted homes. Locals reported the BGB
stationed nearby did not take adequate steps to prevent the attacks or
to stop them after they began. Authorities ultimately arrested 11
persons in connection with the attacks, including the motorcyclist who
faked his own kidnapping, but they were free on bail at year’s end.

Criminal proceedings began against 19 of the 540 individuals arrested
in connection with the October 2012 destruction of Buddhist religious
sites around Ramu. While the prosecution charged suspects in seven
cases, the courts did not convict any individuals or issue any
sentences. Local religious leaders stated authorities shielded those
affiliated with the AL from criminal prosecution. Suspects identified in
the official administrative and judicial inquiries remained free.

Indigenous groups and NGOs reported increased monitoring by civilian
and military intelligence agencies. The CHT Commission did not conduct
its annual reporting missions in the three hill tracts divisions in 2012
or during the year due to its inability to conduct private meetings
with local partners in 2011.

The central government retained
authority over land use. The land commission, designed to investigate
and return all illegally acquired land, did not resolve any disputes
throughout the year, as Bengalis and indigenous persons questioned the
structure and impartiality of the commission.

Indigenous
communities in areas other than the Hill Tracts reported the loss of
land to Bengali Muslims. The government continued construction projects
on land traditionally owned by indigenous communities in the Moulvibazar
and Modhupur forest areas but did not undertake any new activities.
Indigenous communities, local human rights organizations, and churches
in those areas claimed the government had not withdrawn thousands of
false charges that the Forestry Department had filed against indigenous
residents.

About Me

Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), home of Jumma Indigenous people, is a military controlled area, where all the news are filtered by the military and the Bangladeshi government. No foreigners are allowed to enter this military zone without obtaining permission from the Bangladeshi government.
CHT, where blood has shed for decades and hopes were burnt to ashes by the brutes, constitutes of people who want their voice to be heard. We are here to ensure that the voice of these unheard victims in CHT echo around the world despite the Bangladeshi government trying to suppress them in the biased state run media.
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